CRISPR Therapeutics Stock Trades Near 52-Week Low: Time to Buy or Sell?

Shares of CRISPR Therapeutics CRSP closed at $40.97 on Tuesday, close to their 52-week low of $36.52.This decline in CRSP stock is mainly due to a lack of pipeline updates, which is not sitting well with investors. Also, the company is yet to record revenues from the sales of its sole-marketed product Casgevy, despite it being approved in early 2024.Shares of CRISPR Therapeutics have plunged 43% in the past year compared with the industry’s 7% decline, as seen in the chart below. The stock has also underperformed the sector and the S&P 500 index. Shares of the company are currently trading below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages.CRSP Stock Underperforms Industry, Sector & S&P 500 Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchLet’s delve into the company’s strengths and weaknesses to gain a better understanding of how to play the stock amid this price decline.Approval for First CRISPR-Based Therapy: A Milestone for CRSPCRISPR and partner Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ VRTX one-shot ex-vivo gene therapy, Casgevy, was approved in late 2023/early 2024 for two blood disorder indications — sickle cell disease (SCD) and transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia (TDT) — in the United States and Europe. VRTX leads the global development and commercialization of Casgevy under the terms of the 2021 agreement, with support from CRSP.This approval was a breakthrough for medical science, as it was the first for a CRISPR-based gene-editing therapy in the world. Both SCD and TDT indications have a significant unmet medical need. With Casgevy’s approval, CRISPR Therapeutics/Vertex offers a new treatment option to nearly 60,000 patients living with severe SCD or TDT across the United States and Europe, with additional patients in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The therapy has demonstrated the potential to alleviate blood transfusion requirements for TDT patients as well as reduce painful and debilitating sickle crises for SCD patients.Per CRSP, more than 50 authorized treatment centers (ATCs) were activated globally (as of 2024-end) and more than 50 patients had at least one cell collection across all regions. New patient starts are expected to grow significantly throughout this year. In its fourth-quarter earnings release reported last month, Vertex recorded $8 million from Casgevy sales.CRSP’s Pipeline Programs Picking Up PaceCRISPR Therapeutics is pursuing the development of CRISPR candidates to create novel CAR-T cell therapies. It is developing two next-generation CAR-T therapy candidates — CTX112 (targeting CD19-positive B-cell malignancies) and CTX131 (targeting relapsed or refractory solid tumors) — in separate phase I/II studies.CRSP is also exploring the potential of these next-generation candidates in other indications. Last year, it started two new clinical studies — one evaluating CTX131 for hematological malignancies (including T-cell lymphomas) and another assessing CTX112 in systemic lupus erythematosus indication, systemic sclerosis and inflammatory myositis. Updates on all these studies are expected by this year’s end.Following the success with ex-vivo therapy Casgevy, CRSP is focusing on in vivo candidates. Unlike ex-vivo therapies, where cells are removed, modified and then inserted back into one’s body, in vivo therapies involve infusing new genes directly into the body. CRSP is currently evaluating two in-vivo candidates, namely CTX310 (targeting ANGPTL3) and CTX320 (targeting lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)]), in separate early-stage studies. These are directed toward validated therapeutic targets associated with cardiovascular disease. CRSP intends to further expand this in-vivo pipeline with two new in-vivo programs by 2025-end.CRSP Faces Stiff Competition in Targeted MarketsSome other companies are also using CRISPR technology to address various ailments. One such company is Beam Therapeutics BEAM, which is pursuing an ex vivo, autologous transplant-based approach for SCD & TDT indications — the same ones for which Casgevy is approved.Casgevy also faces stiff competition from already-approved therapies like bluebird bio’s Zyntelgo (for TDT) and Lyfgenia (for SCD), Bristol Myers’ Reblozyl (for TDT) and Novartis’ Adakveo (for SCD).With regard to in-vivo therapies, CRSP is currently lagging behind Intellia Therapeutics NTLA, which is one of the few companies with in-vivo CRISPR-based candidates in clinical-stage development. NTLA is developing multiple in-vivo CRISPR-based therapies in early to late-stage studies to address different indications like ATTR amyloidosis and hereditary angioedema.CRSP Stock’s Valuation & EstimatesFrom a valuation standpoint, CRISPR Therapeutics is trading at a discount to the industry. Going by the price-to-book value (P/B) ratio, the company’s shares currently trade at 1.81, lower than 3.26 for the industry. The stock is also trading below its five-year mean of 2.47. Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchEstimates for CRISPR’s 2025 loss per share have narrowed from $5.24 to $5.13 in the past 60 days. During the same timeframe, loss per share estimates for 2026 have widened from $2.13 to $3.94. Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchHere’s How to Play CRSP StockWhile CRISPR’s pipeline is still in early-stage development, we believe that with Casgevy’s approval, CRISPR Therapeutics has crossed its biggest hurdle — the lack of a stable revenue stream. However, the company is yet to record revenues from Casgevy. We remind investors that treatment with this gene therapy is an arduous and time-consuming process. It requires the fulfillment of a lot of conditions, including stem-cell collection, their subsequent modification and then patient infusion.We would suggest holding on to this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock for now, considering its growth prospects. With Casgevy sales picking up pace, the company’s strong cash balance of around $1.9 billion (as of 2024-end) should assure investors that it can smoothly carry out its day-to-day operations, including late-stage development of its pipeline. Unlike last year when CRSP did not provide any major pipeline updates, it has assured investors of updates throughout this year on almost all its candidates, some of which could serve as catalysts for the stock.You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 DaysJust released: Experts distill 7 elite stocks from the current list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. They deem these tickers "Most Likely for Early Price Pops."Since 1988, the full list has beaten the market more than 2X over with an average gain of +24.3% per year. So be sure to give these hand picked 7 your immediate attention. See them now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (VRTX): Free Stock Analysis Report Beam Therapeutics Inc. (BEAM): Free Stock Analysis Report Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. (NTLA): Free Stock Analysis Report CRISPR Therapeutics AG (CRSP): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks